Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy
by Abby Road
Summary: Buffy and Inuyasha crossover. The Scoobies recieve some unexpected visitors to the Cleveland Hellmouth in the form of the Inuyasha-tachi in the aftermath of an inexplicably non-fatal rebound of the Meidou Zangetsuha. Alternating POV.
1. Chapter 1

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy

By Abby Road

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the intellectual property of Joss Whedon and his talented writing staff. It is licensed my Mutant Enemy and Fox Searchlight Productions.

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Inuyasha is the intellectual property of Takahashi Rumiko. It is licensed in Japan by Shonen Sunday (Manga) and Sunrise0 Studio's (Anime) and by Viz Media in the United States.

Please support the artists by purchasing the DVD's and licensed manga translations as they become available.

**I'm trying to resume this story after an extended hiatus. Please review. **I'd love some feedback about how this reads for those unfamiliar with either Buffy or Inuyasha. All reviews are welcome...I thrive on constructive criticism.

Italics will be used for translated dialog i.e. the characters are supposed to be speaking Japanese and it is written in English. A very few Japanese words are in Romaji (untranslated) and, thus, will not be italicized.

CHAPTER 1

This boy moved with a casual grace that put her to shame. He executed a series of handsprings, launched himself off a tree to fly over Spike's head and twisted into an elegant breakfall – all while taunting and smiling like a giddy child. Spike wheeled vampire-quick to face the opponent at his back and Buffy was left utterly gobsmacked at this kid's speed.

Spike gave voice to a frustrated growl. The kid gave one right back. Maybe "kid" wasn't the operative word – not for someone who'd just flattened his pert canine ears until they were hidden in hair so blindingly white that it left Spike's Billy Idol dye-job in the dust. Buffy couldn't seem to recognize this particular breed of demon. These days, it was a rare breed of hell-beast that she hadn't either killed or gotten drunk with.

"Oy! Cut the wack-a-mole act and fight like a man, Fido. Or should I say "fight like a dog"?"

"_Shut up already, ugly-_bōrei_. This isn't even fun if you can't speak plain Japanese. _Feh_!"_

There she stood in stupefied indecision as they circled each other. This was obviously a horrible misunderstanding. Because, much as she hated being interrupted while she and Spike were…um…"sparring". She could totally see where it might be misinterpreted. And the "boy" was clearly trying to rescue her from the vampire. In that utterly bewildering moment after the blur of red cloth and too-white hair had supplanted her vampire, he'd made an adorable shooing gesture at her. She had no idea what "nee ge row" meant, but she could guess. She'd almost felt insulted that she wasn't recognized.

"Sankontesshou!"

"Bloody Hell!"

Oh. Shit.

"Spike!"

The remains of the towering statuary of the Hagel Family grave marker resembled nothing so much as a broken pile of rocks – which is what it was. And, unless rocks moaned, it sounded like Spike was under there somewhere.

She wasn't really sure what kind of magic the kid was using, but it sure didn't lack for raw power.

"Stop! Stop! Hey, Dog-Boy!"

He'd turned his back on her during the fight. How insulting. And, while his adorable dog-ears twitched toward her shouting, he didn't pause in his stalk toward her vampire. The frustration was almost worth the double-take she got when she appeared in front of him – faster than humanly possible.

The wide-eyed amazement didn't last long. His golden eyes narrowed in suspicion and he scented the air. Spike's supernatural sense of smell was annoying enough, but at least he wasn't so obvious about _smelling_ her.

"_What are you? You smell human, but…"_

"Sorry. I don't speak…um…."

Her eyes flicked from his Asian features – not enough to go on – to the sword at his waist. 'Katana' her mind supplied. Ah-ha! Don't ever say she didn't know her weapons.

"…Japanese."

And she could only hope he wasn't speaking a demonic language and making a fool of her in front of Spike. Who, surprisingly enough, was a genius when it came to demon languages. She sure as hell couldn't pronounce Glarga'kul'gashmnik, or whatever.

"But I think we got off on the wrong foot here. My name is Buffy. Bu-ffy." She enunciated while pointing toward herself. "And that's my friend, Spike, over there under the pile of rubble. Neat trick, by the way!"

Clearly she was not making the right impression here, because the kid had taken a forward stance and put a sharply clawed hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Woah. Calm down. We don't need to fight. You seem like a nice kid. Why don't you uncoil yourself there for a sec' and we can get with the introductions."

His eyes flicked from her to where Spike was climbing to his feet and then back again, but his ears had turned to the right. Then she heard it too – a girl's voice, calling out.

"Inuyasha! Shippo!"

"Houshi-sama! Kirara!"

No, make that two girls. She startled when he shouted without turning from her.

"_Kagome! Sango! I'm over here! There's a _bōrei_ and some girl! There's something off about them!" _

The girls came running into view behind dog-boy and Buffy suffered a serious case of mental whiplash. One girl wore a modest kimono, but carried a weapon at her back – some kinda boomerang shaped thing that was longer than she was tall. This outfit was not too out of place from what Buffy had expected, given dog-boy's hakama and hitoe. What really threw her for a loop was the girl in the absolutely indecent schoolgirl uniform – a longbow and quiver over her shoulder. As far as she could tell, both girls were human. Which just reinforced the idea that dog-boy fought for the forces of light and goodness and… God, she really needed to spend less time around Andrew.

"_InuYasha! What happened?"_

"_That filthy _bōrei_ over there was attacking this girl. But she stopped me from killing him. And she stinks like you, Kagome."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?! You said I smell nice!"_

"_No! I mean- What I meant to say was… They smell like they're from your time."_

The schoolgirl looked her way and Buffy waved.

"Hi, I'm Buffy," she gestured behind herself to an uncharacteristically silent vampire, "and this is Spike. Do you speak English?"

The girl's face lit up a little before falling in concentration.

"I speak a little English" she answered. The accent was heavy, but understandable.

"I am Hig…ano.. Kagome Higurashi. It is a pleasure to meet you. This is Sango."

She gestured to the other girl, who made a slight bow.

"And InuYasha."

"Nice to meet you too. Think you could call off …Inuyasha?"

She glanced at InuYasha, but looked completely confused as well.

"_Oy, Kagome! What're you saying?"_

"_Quiet, stupid! I'm trying to think! Why didn't I pay more attention in english class! And stop threatening them, dammit! _ What time…ano…what is the year?"

Well, that was a little odd, but who was she to judge? Whatever she'd said to dog-boy seemed to have settled him a bit. Or, at least he'd taken his claws away from the sword.

"2006."

If she kept it simple they were less likely to have problems with the girl's english.

"Thank you_. Oh, good. InuYasha, we're in my time. We can just call home and… oh!…_Where are we, Miss Buffy?"

"Cleveland, Ohio in the United States."

"Nani?!"

Well that wasn't the reaction she'd been hoping for…


	2. Chapter 2

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 2

"Cleveland, Ohio in the United States."

"What?!"

Traveling in time she could understand. It was as easy as jumping down the dry well at her family's shrine. She'd been doing it since she was fifteen. Traveling through space was not hard to understand either. You just get on a plane, ride a bicycle, climb onto Inuyasha's back and wrap your legs …

Well anyway, the point was: how did they end up in America? She really didn't see why _Meidou Zangetsuha_ would have brought them here. It usually just opened a portal to the underworld. Really, she'd expected to be dead. And how were they supposed to get back to Japan? And, come to think of it, could the others even use the dry well? It had only ever worked for Inuyasha and herself.

Sango was giving her a quiet look that said that she was feeling left out of the conversation.

"_She says we're in America…um the continent to the Far East."_

"_What? How? Honestly, I didn't expect to survive a rebound of the _Meidou Zangetsuha_. Or whatever it was that happened back there."_

The bōrei was looking at them, Kagome noted, but a low growl from Inuyasha redirected his attention. The blond girl also switched her focus as Sango and Kagome spoke.

"_I don't know." _

"_We need to find Hoshi-sama, Shippo-chan and Kirara. The evil aura of this place is horrible. I've never felt anything like it. "_

"_I know, it's.." _

The growling continued in the background.

"Knock it off already, Spike."

"…_setting Inuyasha on edge as well." _

And speaking of, Inuyasha had just come to attention with his ears pricked forward. Buffy turned slightly as well.

"_Inuyasha, wha-" _

Then she heard it as well – Shippo shrieking in fear.

"_Kagome! Help!"_

She'd drawn her bow before Shippo scampered into view. She knew that Sango had a ready hand on Hiraikotsu as well. The demon crashed into view on Shippo's tail. She loosed her purifying arrow and, in a shower of light, the demon vanished – utterly destroyed.

She heard a low whistle of appreciation from Spike.

Buffy muttered an approving "Nice!"

But her attention was for the fox-demon child scrambling up her shirt to tuck his trembling body against her neck. The little turquoise bow in his red hair was scratching against her neck.

"_Kagome! Hurry! Kirara's guarding Miroku!"_

"_Calm down, Shippo. You're safe. Guarding him from what?"_

"_From the demons! The pretty one exploded in my foxfire, but then that other one tried to eat me, Kagome!"_

The pretty one? Oh, trust Miroku to find a violent man-eating demon in the form of a beautiful woman. No matter what time or place he's in.

"_Ha! He sure didn't waste any time!"_

And trust Inuyasha to be an insensitive jerk.

"Hoshi-sama." If Sango could growl, Kagome was sure she'd be doing it now. Instead she settled for making Miroku's title, honorific and all, sound like a dire curse.

"_Which way Shippo?"_

Just then, a quiet feline roar of greeting echoed through the clearing.

"_Nevermind."_

There was Kirara with Miroku-sama draped over her back like a sack of rice and…

"What in the holy hell is that thing? A demon saber-toothed tiger? Spike, why is that cat on fire?"

"I smell blood."

"_He's bleeding."_

Under other circumstances, she would have found the dual language stereo pretty funny.

Sango rushed to meet them and Shippo leapt from his perch on her shoulder to help.

"Miroku!"

"Houshi-sama!"

Inuyasha was still warning off the strangers. They seemed to be discussing Kirara. So, while Sango sacrificed a sleeve of her kimono to bandage Miroku-sama's neck, she turned her attention to the other problem at hand.

"I'm sorry. My English is not good. These are Miroku-sama, Shippo-chan and Kirara. We are lost. May I use your telephone?"

A low moan interrupted her speech.

"_Will you bear my children?"_

The resounding smack of Sango's hand on Miroku-sama's cheek was far too routine to distract Kagome from the knowing chuckle that the bōrei – Spike, she reminded herself – was sending their way. It seemed Buffy and Inuyasha had not missed it either, as the blond girl followed Sango's example and smacked Spike upside the head.

"You speak Japanese?! Why didn't you say something, idiot?"

"Don't want to give up too much right off the bat, do I Slayer?"

"_Kagome, what are they saying?"_

"_Shhhh, this is difficult. He has an accent. She's mad at him for not letting her know that he speaks Japanese. I think that's it."_

"_Yeah, well so am I! What's your problem ugly- _bōrei_?"_

"_My problem? My problem is that you interrupted a perfectly lovely evening with my woman here, dog-breath."_

She was reminded of Koga at the strangest times – "his woman" indeed! Well, at least that would keep Inuyasha's irrational fits of jealousy to a minimum. Kagome turned a speculative look toward Buffy. The 'men' growled at each other.

"You're …friends…with him? A bōrei?"

"Don't worry. Spike won't hurt you. Spike, what's a …"

"_Oy, I'm not bōrei! 'm a vampire!"_

"_Oh, like Anne Rice!"_

"_Ann …who?"_

"_Yeah, something like that ...only with less brooding."_

"_She's a modern writer, Inuyasha."_

"Wait, wait, anyone wanna clue me in here?"

"They thought I was a bōrei. Probably because of the whole 'undead' thing."

"Um, okay, but …what's a bōrei?"

"An undead … thing."

"You're not helping me here."

"Just call it a zombie with free will and less body odor."

"Okay, fine. But what's going on? They don't look like they're from around here."

"_You all get here through a portal or summat?" _

"_Yes, something like that."_

"_And you're meant to be in Japan?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And there's time travel involved, I'm guessing?"_

"_Ah…somewhat, yes."_

"_Kagome, why are you telling him…"_

"_Hush! He seems harmless!"_

"_Kagome, he's **dead**!"_

That particular comment deserved only a pointed glare. To which Inuyasha turned his back in a huff.

"Spatial and temporal portal accident. Could be inter-dimensional as well."

"That's refreshingly simple. Well, we can't just leave them here. No matter which way you look at it, leaving them alone on the Hellmouth would not be of the good. I can see the headlines now: 'Mysteriously localized earthquake levels downtown and, in unrelated news, a tiger has escaped from the zoo.' I mean, you saw what that kid did to the tombstone, right? Tell Kagome they can crash at my place tonight. We'll call a Scooby Meeting and try to figure this out for them."

"_Buffy'd like to offer you a place to sleep tonight and help you get home."_

"_Oh, _thank you Buffy!_ Inuyasha, I don't want to hear it! Miroku's not going to be able to con us into lodgings in my era – not that he's in any condition…"_

"Damn it! Where am I going to put that giant flaming cat!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy**

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 3

Well, the cat problem turned out to have a refreshingly simple solution – she shrunk. Big whoosh of flame and "Kirara" was smaller than your average housecat – and cuter too. Even in this town, two-tailed demon cats – or, as Spike had informed her "Nekomata" – weren't very common. Sadly, she could not say the same for undead zombie cats.

Everyone had settled in the living room. Inuyasha placed himself facing the entrance hall at an angle and had his ears flicked back toward the kitchen doorway. She was going to assume he could hear her in the kitchen. Miroku had been settled into the easy chair and the little demon-child, Shippo, was chattering excitedly at him from a perch on the coffee table. Tales of bravery and adventure, she had to assume. The girl with the boomerang – her name was Sango – was watching as Kagome put Buffy's extensive first aid kit to good use on an impressive looking vampire bite on Miroku's neck. Kirara had - against all the laws of physics but none of the laws of magic – shrunk to such a size that she sat comfortably on Sango's shoulder.

Orange juice and cookies are good for blood loss. Sadly, she spoke from personal experience. As she dug around in the cupboards she could make out the conversation, but it was all Japanese to her. She'd asked Spike to go over the basics – Welcome to the Hellmouth 101 – and get a little intel on their new houseguests.

She finally dug out the orange juice and cookies and made it back to the living room – taking a seat beside Spike on the couch.

"Help yourselves everyone! Pizza's on the way."

"_She says dig in and she's ordered in for pizza."_

"_Oooohh, Kagome! Ninja food!"_

Damn but that kid was cute! With his little paws for feet and his bushy little tail and adorable bow in his hair. It just made her want to pinch his little cherubic cheeks – just the way she'd always hated as a child. And the urge to touch his little elf-ears was almost as bad.

"God he's cute!"

"Yeah, feisty too. Little Kit there took out a vampire, first thing off the bat."

"But…he's so small."

"Foxfire."

"Oh, well, that would come in handy. So, did you give them the 411?"

Wow…how did those two manage to fight over a single cookie with a whole plate in front of them? Inuyasha was holding a praline cookie over his head and sticking his tongue out at the kid who was bouncing around in a fit of righteous indignation. She would have thought Inuyasha a bully if the whole thing wasn't so damn cute. The girls barely spared them a glance from where they were busy fussing over Miroku.

"Yeah, they didn't have much trouble with the Hellmouth concept. Seems that they can feel it – the demonic energies. The Taijiya over there…"

She caught the capital T right away. That was uncharacteristically respectful. Why were there always nicknames? Did he have to do that right off the bat with everyone he met? Seriously?

"…seems to be a bit of a slayer herself. I dunno about the 'chosen one' bit, but she was raised as a yōkai taijiya – that's "demon slayer". Her whole village made their living that way_."_

Man, that would have been nice. To not have to hide the Slaying from her mother and teachers and friends. Or – and she thought of Jenny Calander, Kendra and Tara – maybe not so great. Death came to both sides of that fight.

"They're all from the Feudal Era of Japan, 'bout 500 years ago, 'cept for the miko there."

There was only one other girl, so he had to mean Kagome. But she was missing the reference. Kagome, however, seemed to have caught it – she flashed them a look over her shoulder.

"She's a priestess – can purify demons and the like. That's what happened to the mighty foxhunter earlier tonight. Seems to equate to a white witch if you get right down to it. No spells though. Sounds like her power's all her own. She's from now but not from here. Does some time travel on a regular basis, but they're a bit skittish about the specifics."

Well, Willow would surely find Kagome interesting. Buffy had a moment to regret convincing Willow to take French with her instead of Japanese. Because, surely, Spike did not make for the best translator.

"Romeo there is a Buddhist monk. Haven't got much on him really. The girls're a mite protective at the moment. Has a bit of magic up his sleeve as well though. His higher calling seems to involve quite a bit of demon slaying."

And wandering hands, she noted, as another resounding slap and "Houshi-sama!" echoed in the living room. This didn't seem to phase the other's in the slightest and the demons kept up their game of keep away with the cookies. Inuyasha was now holding Shippo up by his tail. This allowed Shippo to glare daggers at him eye-to-eye.

"Little Kit over there is a demon fox, as you may have guessed. Didn't ask, but it looks like this lot is all he's got to call family. He's very young, as far as his kind go. Which is to say, probably not much younger than I am."

Okay, so very young was something less than 120 year old. She never would get used to the lengthy childhoods of some demons. They never seemed to age at all. And, when they remembered stuff that'd happened before she was born, it was a little creepy.

"Dog-boy is just what he looks like – half dog-demon and half boy. Seems his mum had a thing for demons."

Ohhhh! That…! How dare he! Her face felt suddenly hot. Okay, so it was kinda good that he was poking fun at her again. She'd really grown tired of walking on eggshells around him. But he was treading on dangerous ground. And he was giving her that look. That annoying, smug, incredibly sexy look that made her want to stop what she was doing and strip him naked. Damn! Damn! Damn! He was supposed to save that look for sparring – then, at least, she had a viable excuse for getting all hot and bothered.

"_Oy! Get a room! We're trying to eat here!"_

The words were unfamiliar. But if the tone left anything in doubt…

Kagome turned six shades of pink and shouted, "Inuyasha, osuwari!"

The necklace was definitely not decorative. It glowed and slammed the poor boy face first into the floor – directly through her coffee table. Why was it always the coffee table? She would have to insist on paying Xander for cost of labor this time. He could not keep comp'ing her carpentry work. Maybe she would just leave it that way. She'd just say 'modern art' and call it good.

Spike looked at the tangle of dog-demon and the new crater in her floor in stunned silence before bursting out laughing.

"Oh, God! I thought I had it bad with the chip! That's classic!"

Then he muttered something about "..tells him to **sit!**" and continued giggling to himself.

"_Oh, shut up! What the hell was that for Kagome?"_

"_You can't say something like that to Buffy! We're guests in her home!"_

"_Well just because you can't smell her! And you broke her furniture!"_

"_I can't …what?"_

"_Nevermind…'s nothing."_

"_Yeah, she does smell funny Kagome! Inuyasha, what is that?"_

"_Ah…well…I'll tell you when you're older."_

The fact that dog-boy was now blushing an impressive shade of red to match his outfit was small comfort. She just knew they were talking about her! Especially given the way the monk was woozily leering at her. And Spike just couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"_Think before you speak, idiot!"_

"_Who's the idiot?! I'm not the one who broke her table!"_

"_Hey, hey. This isn't something to be fighting over."_

"_Shove it, Bouzu!"_

"Spike. What did he say?"

"Said 'get a room!' His nose's even better'n mine."

She was so very sorry she'd asked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy**

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 4

Things could definitely be worse, she'd decided. She'd apologized profusely, but Buffy hadn't seemed at all phased by the destruction of her coffee table. In fact, she'd disappeared upstairs to take a shower. Which was just … mortifying…now that she thought about it. Inuyasha was so utterly tactless!

But, then again, the fact that there was a shower upstairs was not something to be overlooked. It was always relaxing to be back in her own time. She was actually having fun watching the reactions of her friends. She'd always thought that Inuyasha was remarkably laid back about time travel – attacks on innocent volleyballs notwithstanding.

When she'd switched on the TV, she really had not anticipated the reaction – although it was to be expected. Miroku and Sango tensed and turned their attention away from their conversation with Spike, while Shippo shrieked, puffed up his tail and dashed to Inuyasha's shoulder, hissing.

"_What's that?! Is it dangerous?"_

"_Relax, runt. It's just a TV. It tells stories with pictures. You'll like it."_

"_What kind of stories?"_

"_All kinds. Here, Kagome, gimme the remote."_

She handed it over. While Inuyasha found cartoons for Shippo, Miroku and Sango resumed their conversation with the vampire.

"_So you're saying that you have the animating force of a demon, but a human soul?"_

"_Um…that's about the size of it."_

"_But what happened to your demon soul when you restored your human soul?"_

"_Demons don't have souls."_

"_Well that's plainly ridiculous – everything has a soul."_

"_Houshi-sama is right, Spike. Look at Shippo."_

"_Yeah, but vampires are…"  
_

"_Clearly you had a soul. If you were nothing but an animate corpse you would have possessed neither the will nor the inclination to restore your humanity."_

Spike clearly didn't know what to make of that, so Miroku decided to redirect the conversation before they overstepped themselves.

"_Perhaps we are just having a definitional misunderstanding. You speak excellent Japanese, but the finer philosophical points do not, perhaps, translate well. You seemed interested in the specifics of our situation as well, Spike. What would you like to know?"_

Oh! Sponge Bob Square Pants! Even without subtitles is was not difficult to watch. Relaxing and mindless - like watching a fish tank. But, actually, watching Shippo scurrying back and forth sniffing the television was far more entertaining – now that she thought of it. Inuyasha seemed to think so too. He was watching Shippo with an indulgent smile – obviously not realizing that he was also being watched. He really did try too hard to appear coldhearted, sometimes.

The pizza finally arrived, carried by a young man with an eye-patch. He was introduced as "Xander" by Spike and a redheaded woman called "Willow" arrived with him.

"_Kagome! She has red hair too! Do you think she's a fox?!"_

"_No, Shippo-chan. Red hair is much more common, among humans, in this part of the world. Spike said that she's a witch."_

"_Ha! Maybe it's not even the real color of her hair. It could be an illusion anyway!"_

"_Shippo, don't say such things. It's rude. You don't like it when Inuyasha criticizes your transformations, do you?"_

Then all hell broke loose. The girl who entered the foyer didn't look unusual at all – in fact, she was balancing an inordinate number of shopping bags – but if that was a girl then Kagome would eat her hat. She backed toward Inuyasha and Shippo, who were bristling. Miroku and Sango darted around the coffee table to join them.

"_What is that? Spike, what is she?" _

There was such an immense aura of power coming off the girl that Kagome had a dizzy moment of vertigo – as if from a change in atmospheric pressure.

"_You mean you can – "_

Then, to make matters worse, Willow added her own magic to the mix and erected a barrier across the entrance to the foyer.

"Spike, what's the problem?"

"It's Dawn, Red. I don't know how they can tell."

Miroku reacted in kind, erecting a holy barrier to encase them in a protective bubble – his staff held horizontally in front of him in a warding stance. Inuyasha was gripping his sword.

"_Inuyasha. You can't draw here. The houses are too close together. _Kaze no Kizu_ would destroy all those homes we passed on the way here."_

Trust Miroku to provide a level head when they needed one.

"_Feh! I knew that!"_

Nevertheless, he moved his hand away from Tessaiga's hilt and settled for cracking his knuckles.

At that moment the other boy, Xander, emerged from the kitchen and stopped in the entrance to the living room.

"So, what'd I miss?"

"They're afraid of the Bit."

"But why would…They know? How can they know?!"

"_Spike, I think now would be a good time for an explanation before my barrier wears off. I don't think any of us wants this to escalate."_

"_Right, I'll explain. Just gimme a minute. _Red, I don't think the barrier is winning any trust here. Maybe you and Dawn should go upstairs for a bit."

"Okay, but we're gonna need an explanation. C'mon Dawnie."

By the way the girl had gone white and dropped her bags, Kagome was feeling a little more at ease - even a tad guilty. The stifling aura was also growing more tolerable as she acclimated to it. It wasn't "evil" per say, just suffocatingly strong. On top of the Hellmouth's energies, it had been too much.

"_Why did you not warn us of this?"_

Miroku did not sound angry, precisely, but there was an accusatory edge to his tone.

"_I apologize. Dawn's power is a closely guarded secret. There are many enemies who seek to gain her power and take her life."_

"_How can you possibly keep that a secret?"_ Sango demanded.

"_That's the thing. We've rarely met anyone, human or demon, who could sense anything abnormal about her. What was it that you felt?"_

She was the one who answered.

"_A stifling weight. She has an aura of power. It's so intense. I could barely breathe."_

Inuyasha put a hand on her shoulder from behind and she took hold of it.

"_She's Buffy's little sister. She's also an ancient mystical artifact of immense power. But she's a girl, first and foremost."_

Buffy had descended the stairs, toweling off her hair.

"What the hell is going on down here? What's with the bubble? And why is Dawn crying?"

Kagome knew a question when she heard one. While Spike explained the situation, Miroku released his barrier. After taking Inuyasha aside for a moment, he slumped back into the easy chair in exhaustion. The one-eyed boy, Xander, was attempting to resume business as usual and setting out pizza, cola and paper plates on the coffee table. He then extended a hand and a welcoming smile.

"Xander Harris, pleasure to meet you."

"And you as well. I'm Kagome Higurashi. I'm sorry. I speak very little English."

"That's fine. I'm sure that won't be a problem, here have a seat."

He hadn't released her hand, but was, instead, leading her toward the couch. That was, until Inuyasha darted over and snatched her away with a warning growl – literally snatched, by the waist, and lifted. She ended up seated in Inuyasha's lap on the couch and was too startled, for a moment, to remember to smack him for manhandling her.

_"Inuyasha! Stop it! He's just being friendly!"_

"_Yeah, well he can be friendly with someone else!"_

Sango, bless her, had wordlessly caught Xander's attention by gripping his shoulder and managed to convey everything necessary to the startled boy – simply by glancing at them with a smirk and a dismissive headshake.

"Ah, I see. Overprotective boyfriend. Well, she doesn't seem to mind much."

"_You are an unbelievable idiot! We need their help!"_

"_Yeah, I know exactly what kind of 'help' he had in mind, too."_

"_I can't believe you! You're not even this bad with Koga-kun."_

"_I swear, if you call him Koga-kun one more time…"_

Shippo chose that moment to leap onto the coffee table and declare,_ "Yeah! You're so immature Inuyasha! And after all Kagome puts up with!"_

"_Come back here and say that!"_

But, Shippo had already taken refuge on Miroku's shoulder – where he was pretending, poorly, to be asleep – and was blowing Inuyasha a raspberry.

"You know, Buffy, I'd really love to know what they're saying."

"Yeah, Willow had an idea for that."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy**

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 5

She'd really come to rely on Willow's magic over the years. And, now that she'd recovered from her addiction to the black arts, Willow's power and knowledge were much more reliable than at any time in the past. It still made her slightly nervous.

Willow had explained that the spell would only effect those present in the ritual circle. So they had cleared the living room of furniture, and Willow had laid down a pattern in white sand. At least, it was nothing a good vacuuming couldn't take care of. The last thing she wanted was some kind of magical burn marks on the carpeting.

Dawn had been coaxed downstairs again. After the initial shock, her guests seemed to be adjusting well to Dawn's "aura" or whatever. She was really gonna' need a more detailed explanation soon.

Kagome had asked Spike to apologize to Dawn for them. She even offered Dawn a friendly wave, but the entire group was still keeping a respectable distance. The little fox kid had slapped a leaf on his forehead and promptly vanished – all but his little poofball tail. No one seemed to feel the need to point out this oversight, and the tail was making cautious approach-and-retreat patterns toward Dawn. This, more than anything, seemed to be lifting Dawn's spirits. She was trying hard not to laugh and pretending that she could not see the tail as he made another circuit toward her.

It looked like Willow and Spike had almost finished with their preparations. Everyone was positioned in the circle as directed.

"Okay, Buffy. I think we're ready. Take a seat."

The rest went, more or less, as advertised. Willow was using a hibachi in the center of the circle to burn the ritual offerings – mostly herbs – and had absolutely promised that the carpet would not be damaged. This particular spell didn't seem to come with any spectacular special effects.

When the incantation was finished the smoke from the hibachi thickened and exploded outward in a thick purple plume that obscured her vision. It smelled sort of like cooking to Buffy, but apparently not everyone agreed.

"Bloody hell, Will! That's wretched!"

Someone, clearly not Spike, was coughing violently … and gagging. God damn it, no one better vomit on the carpet.

"_Inuyasha, are you okay? Where are you?"_

Well, the spell worked alright. Pretty cool. She was still hearing Japanese, but she understood what was being said – kind of like subtitles. What was definitely uncool were the choking noises dog-boy was making.

"_Here c'mere. Let's get you outside."_

He moaned incoherently in response. Something crashed off to her left.

"_Ah! He fainted! Miroku-sama, help me carry him."_

Spike had opened the front door and was working on the windows, so the smoke had cleared enough for her to see Miroku and Kagome hoisting Inuyasha onto the porch by his arms and legs. Kirara and Shippo – the 'invisibility' spell had worn off – ran out ahead of them into the fresh air with Sango following in the rear.

When she followed them out, they'd put Inuyasha flat out on his stomach where he lay panting and moaning. Kagome was fussing over him, but the others had taken a seat on the porch railing. Looking at Inuyasha, she was reminded of one of her worse hangovers. She seemed to recall that much vomiting was involved and that it had been entirely Spike's fault. She didn't even like whisky, so it had to have been Spike's fault.

"Is he alright?"

"_Oh! Buffy. Yes, but he may have to sleep it off. His sense of smell is very sensitive."_

"Yeah. We already established that."

Kagome blushed. Inuyasha continued making wretched moans in the back of his throat in unconscious distress.

"_Ah, Spike told you about that. I am sorry. He's just thoughtless like that, but he really didn't mean anything by it."_

"'s fine. I feel your pain. Really, that looks pretty bad. I'm sorry. We didn't realize it would affect him this way."

Inuyasha scrambled to his feet with enough agility to vomit over the porch railing and Kagome somehow managed to catch his hair out of the way. Then he slid onto his back with an arm over his eyes.

"_Ooohhh, my head!"_

"_We could not have expected you to foresee such a thing, Buffy-dono. Truly, that was an amazing spell. Now that we may more easily converse, I must ask -"_

Buffy had one moment to goggle at the handsome and earnest-looking young man, who was clasping her hand in both of his, before the corner of Sango's boomerang crashed down on his scull with a dull thunk.

"_Hoshi-sama!"_

"_My sincerest apologies, Dearest Sango. You know that I love only you! Please forgive me! I am injured and surely, given the blood loss and disorientation, you cannot hold me accountable, if…"_

Sango simply turned on her heel and stalked off – the monk following with a litany of apologies, like a lost and whimpering puppy. Buffy could only stare after them in puzzlement. Spike sauntered out onto the porch, chuckling.

"They're a trip and a half, yeah?"

"Do you think this spell was such a good – "

The sound of a muffled explosion a few houses down preceded a chorus of high pitched and weeping voices and the sound of a woman shrieking. Just as Buffy was set to go and vanquish the offending demon, Shippo scurried under her feet giggling and carrying a garden gnome. She got the impression that she'd missed something.

"_Shippo-chan."_

That tone of voice surely promised punishment. Shippo was **so **grounded.

"_Eeep! Yes, Kagome?"_

Shippo whirled around and attempted to hide the garden gnome, which was taller than him and also flamboyantly colored, behind his back.

"_Where did you get that?"_

"_Get what?"_

"_That statue."_

"_It's mine."_

"_Don't lie to me, Shippo-chan."_

"_I found it."_

"_And why did you use the Weeping Mushrooms?"_

"_Some crazy, human woman tried to attack me. With a broom, Kagome!"_

Kagome simply sighed, in an extremely put upon way, and buried her face in one hand before holding it out for the gnome.

"_Give that to me, Shippo-chan."_

"_Aw, Kagome! But it's perfect for my…"_

"_Now, Shippo-chan."_

The little fox-demon dragged the gnome over to Kagome with a defeated pout.

"_And no more fox magic against humans until we get home. Understand?"_

"_I'm sorry, Kagome."_

"_Okay. Now go find Sango-chan and Miroku-sama."_

"_Yes!"_

With that, Shippo, darted off after the others on both hands and hind paws.

"_Your neighbor may want this back, Buffy. I'm sorry for the disturbance Shippo has caused. The Weeping Mushrooms are harmless, but you may have trouble explaining them."_

"Oh, not to worry. We live on a Hellmouth. Weird stuff happens all the time and no one ever notices. Andrew calls it a 'Somebody Else's Problem Field'– if it's too weird, people just refuse to see it."** (1)**

"_That sounds nice. It's hard, having to hide Inuyasha when he's in my time. Every time I see him wearing that stupid baseball cap, I want to tell him how much I love his ears. He shouldn't have to hide them as if they're shameful. But it scares me – what would happen if someone found out about him?"_

Kagome was running her thumb over one of those ears. Inuyasha reached up to take her hand and mumbled a groggy, but heartfelt, thanks.

"_Arigato, Kagome. I love your ears, too."_

**(1) **_**AUTHORS NOTE: The "Somebody Else's Problem Field" is the invention of the late Douglas Adams. Author of the comedy/sci-fi 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' novels.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy**

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 6

Once the living room had been aired out, Kagome settled Inuyasha on the couch with a bag of ice, a glass of water and a couple of aspirin. He still looked wretched – a paler shade of green and breathing in that rapid way that she usually associated with nausea.

After an embarrassingly long and expensive phone call she'd established that this probably was the completely wrong dimension. Something that had not even occurred to her until Dawn mentioned it. With time-travel as such a normal part of her life; alternate dimensions never even crossed her mind.

A stranger had answered the phone at the shrine. When she finally did get her mother on the phone – she didn't even know who she was. This was, by far, the worst thing that had happened to her that week.

She re-entered the kitchen as Willow and Dawn were sitting down with their tea. Dawn wordlessly placed a cup down on the kitchen island for her.

"Green, chamomile, chai or earl-grey?"

"_Earl-grey would be great. Thank you."_

Dawn sprinkled the tealeaves in her cup before pouring the water.

"Did you get ahold of your Mom?"

"_Sort of. She didn't know who I was. Now what am I supposed to do?"_

This was all just a bit too much, really. Failing algebra and the threat of impeding death were one thing. But to have no home to go back to? Even if she somehow got back to Tokyo – her family would not welcome her with open arms and lovingly prepared bento.

"Don't worry, Kagome. Seriously. Willow will have this solved just as fast as you can say "Whoops, where did I put that centering crystal? Ah, there it is!'"

"Dawnie! We'll figure this out. You couldn't have landed in a better place."

"_That's just it. It's all…wrong! The energy of this place is just…horrifying. And my Mom doesn't even know me. And I don't even know how we got here."_

"Kagome, you're okay. We'll help you find a way home. This will all work out."

Dawn's stool scraped against the kitchen tile as she moved to stand.

"I'm sorry. Am I…bothering you? With my…"

Kagome could have kicked herself. Here she was wallowing, and she'd completely forgotten the scare they'd given Dawn earlier. And the girl had been trying to cheer her up!

"_No! Not at all! Now that I know to expect it – it's actually kind of…okay. I'm getting used to it, I mean. When you're sitting this close it's easier to ignore the ..ah..Hellmouth."_

"Oh. Good. Then, I'll just...stay. Kagome, how do you guys know what I am?"

Dawn looked so vulnerable. Kagome didn't know what kind of answer she was looking for – didn't have the reassurances she wanted to give.

"_I don't know what you are. I just feel your…power. Miroku-sama would really be the person to ask. He's better at sensing these things. And he was trained as a monk."_

"Oh."

"Dawnie. Now that we know they're from an alternate dimension. I think you have even less to worry about. Whatever 'sixth sense' they have about you – we've never encountered it in this world. I think all we have to worry about are crazies and snake-demons and… Oh! Oh! That's right! Kagome, Inuyasha's a dog-demon right?"

"_Half. Yes."_

"Could you ask what she looks like to him?"

"_Looks like?"_

"_Green,"_ came a grumpy shout from the living room, _"and shiny!"_

"_Thank you, Inuyasha!"_

"_Keep your voice down, _teme_! My head hurts!"_

"_What does he mean…green?"_

"Ah. Well, in our dimension, only crazy people, snake-demons and dog-demons are supposed to be able to see The Key – that's Dawn. And they always say she's shiny and green and bright. You don't see her that way right?"

"_Um…no. She's just a girl with and incredible aura."_

"Do you think Inuyasha also feels the aura you're talking about?"

_"Of coarse he-"_

"_I can hear you, ya' know!"_

"_-does."_

"So, Dawn, I think the normal rules still apply. I'll have to talk to Miroku, just to be sure."

"Thanks. I was worried. I thought that maybe it had something to do with our training. Like, it was making me more 'visible' or something."

"Oh, no. Look at it this way, sweetie. It's not like random people on the street point at me and say, "Witch! It's a witch!"

"_I should be so lucky."_

"How do you mean, Kagome?"

"_I get that all the time in the _Sengoku Jidai._ Every random _kuromiko, onimononoke_ and _youkai_ I meet goes, 'Oh, it's a _miko_,' and tries to kill me…or proposes marriage – but that was only the one time. And I'm not even a **trained **_miko_! I was just born this way!"_

"Yeah, I can see where that would suck. But, see Dawn? It's just something about her dimension. You don't have anything to worry about."

"_You know, it's great to talk to people from my own time period about this stuff. When I tried talking to my friends about Inuyasha, they got the impression that he was some sort of abusive, overbearing, punk, gang-member or something."_

"I totally get you on that one. I hate having to lie to everyone all the time. And, boy, do I have a hard time explaining Spike. I swear! There's a reason I'm dating a demon! Every other boy ran screaming the second Spike went all 'grr' and "what are your intentions toward my 'bit" on them!"

Kagome, knew there was a reason that Spike reminded her of Kouga-kun!

"_You should have seen Inuyasha when we first met Kouga-kun! They fought over me like…well…wolves and dogs. Kouga-kun is an _ookamiyoukai_ and he decided, completely on his own, that I'm "his woman." He even gave up eating humans for me – which is sweet. Anyway, Inuyasha's so jealous – you couldn't get a word in edgewise through all the growling. They've mostly worked it out by now. Hopefully, Spike and your boyfriend will come to an agreement, too."_

"_Shut up in there! I'm sleeping!"_

"_I think he's had a little too much excitement."_

"_Damn you! Quit talking about me like I'm not there!"_

"I am so sorry about that. I had no idea that it would have that affect on him."

"_No. It's fine Willow. You had no way of knowing. And the spell is amazing!"_

"Well, thank you. Actually, Buffy told me about your problem with hiding Inuyasha's ears. I get where you're coming from – not wanting to have to hide anything. So, I hope you're not offended. But I might have something useful I could do for you. I can enchant an object to cast an illusion over the wearer. So, Inuyasha could wear a pin or something and appear totally human."

Kagome was brought back to Inuyasha's moonless nights. She saw his slate-gray human eyes, his wash of midnight-black hair and the way his new human ears parted it at the sides. She saw his blood. Since meeting her, he had revealed this night of vulnerability to more and more people. He felt honor bound, now, to protect her and fight alongside his other human companions – even at the risk of revealing his mortal weakness to their enemies. The New Moon terrified her.

"_Could you enchant it to do the reverse as well?"_

For a moment, she was afraid she had spoken too quietly.

"How do you mean?"

"_Could you make this enchantment cast an illusion that would make a man appear half-demon?"_

"Um…sure. I could make him look like a cantaloupe if you really want. But, uh, I wouldn't recommend it. Cantaloupes are darn tasty, but they've got nothing on your boy's looks."

That was…wait…what?

"Pffft. Like you would know. Don't pay too much attention to Willow. She babbles when she's anxious."

"Geez, Dawn. I'm not blind."

"_Willow, I can't tell you how much this means to me. Thank you for your offer."_

"Oh. Sure. No problem at all. We can go over the specifics later if you'd like. I'm sure Inuyasha would like some say it what the glamour will look like."

"_Yes, of course. Um…where did everyone else run off to?"_

"Buffy sent Xander to buy some extra blankets and stuff for you guys – no, don't worry, it's counted as a business expense – and she and Spike went to find your friends."

"_Ah."_

"So, how did you two meet?"

Dawn had her eyebrows raised as of this were a salacious inquiry.

Well, this was a story she wouldn't mind telling. All her closest friends knew about the violent, possessive, two-timing, punk boyfriend. They'd even met him and given their blessings. But not one of them knew about the hanyou boy she'd freed from a holy seal - with his magical sword and his love of a woman she had once been and never would be.

"_I grew up on the grounds of my family shrine in Tokyo and on my fifteenth birthday – "_


	7. Chapter 7

**Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy**

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 7

This was what she missed most. Just hunting. It was a balmy night, with a slight breeze, and the cityglow lit her familiar path through the cemetery. Spike stalked beside her in silence. No words were needed. Not after so many years of fighting with, and against, one another. She followed at his side as he tracked the scent of their new friends – not even breaking stride to stake a newly risen vampire as it launched itself at her from behind a tree.

"Do you think they're alright?"

"I think they can take care of themselves – looking at who they run with."

This was new - this easy camaraderie. Her respecting his opinion – respecting him. If she thought too hard about how fucked up their relationship had been… Well, she just couldn't think about it. She couldn't hate herself, or him, anymore. He was here now. That was good. And that was as far as she was willing to analyze.

"You're right. I shouldn't worry."

Spike was scanning the semi-dark with game face on. His golden eyes were luminescent with reflected light and the brow-ridges of his demon cast dramatic shadows across his face. She had never told him – that she loved that face as well. That she knew it was a face of one who loved her. She didn't know if she could say the words, even now. She remembered Kagome's tearful words for her own demon - which he should not have to hide in shame.

But how many ways, over the years, had she told Spike that his demon nature was abhorrent to her? She'd told him that he was a disgusting, worthless, soulless, thing – so often and in so many ways that she could not say otherwise now. The words would ring hollow in his ears. Now, she held the fear that he would not hear those unspoken words within her lifetime. In every waking moment his denial rang in her ears: "No you don't. But thanks for saying it." That had been his response to her admission of love. Even as he was dying – even as their joined hands burned with the flame of his hard-won soul - he could not believe those words.

"HIRAIKOTSU!"

"Huh…Boomerang Bone. Nice ring to it. Don'cha think?"

The weapon in question sliced the air, and tree branches, in front of them – then whirled by on a return path.

"This way maybe?"

She returned his easy grin and they dashed off after Hiraikotsu. Judging by the scene that greeted them, she'd been grievously underestimating the monk and demon exterminator.

It looked like they'd disturbed an unlucky nest of demons. Hiraikotsu cut a bloody swath through their numbers and the stragglers were falling neatly to the practiced arc of Miroku's staff. Buffy didn't know how such an innocuous looking staff-head could slice and dice like that – but she wanted one. Maybe he'd let her play with it later.

A particularly nasty looking green bastard in leather armor took a side-swing at Miroku's neck with a big ass broadsword and he parried with the staff. The wood inexplicably failed to shatter and sparked instead. As Miroku pushed his opponent back Buffy realized it was, perhaps, time to reassess their new allies. She'd dealt with those demons before – "waffle-somthingorother" – and they were not lightweights. As the demon stumbled to regain his footing under the unexpected resistance, Miroku darted back and in under his opponents guard – delivering a sharp blow with the blunt end of his staff and coming up to smash the things head in as it doubled over with a shout of "Houriki!"

How in the hell had a vampire gotten ahold of this guy's neck?

Miroku turned in a flatteringly dramatic swirl of purple robes before staggering. Sango turned, gutting her opponent with a wakizashi, in time to wrap a chain around the sword coming down on Miroku's unguarded back.

Unfortunately, the wafflewatsits had hired help and it wasn't going down that easy. The downed opponent at Sango's back grabbed her ankle in a crushing grip and ripped her off her feet – sending the sword wielder back on a trajectory toward Miroku. He'd recovered, somewhat, and was able to roll out of the way. Buffy was just about to join the fray when a blur of cream fur leapt past her. With a subsonic roar, Kirara launched herself onto Miroku's opponent and commenced the mauling.

From where she was partially pinned, Sango brought her arm up and sliced her opponent's throat. In Buffy's experience with these demons, that would give her – yep – just enough time to regain her feet before the f'ing thing was moving again. Before it regained its feet she drove her wakizashi into the back of it's neck – then darted back to regain her breath.

Miroku had put only a moderate distance between Kirara's struggle with the remaining demon. He was kneeling on one knee and Shippo – from where he'd appeared Buffy had not a clue – was clinging to his shoulder. Both were watching in dismay as the demons continued to take seemingly fatal wounds without lasting effect. The resemblance to Spike's expression, the first time they had encountered these demons, was almost funny. In the end, they'd actually had to dismember the things and employ a little witchcraft to adequately dispose of the parts. She got the feeling that Sango was coming to a similar conclusion as she neatly sliced off an arm.

Buffy gestured silently to Spike and they split off. She came in at an angle behind Sango's demon and delivered a flying kick to the back of his head.

"Switch?"

Sango glanced at Miroku, then back to her and tossed her the wakizashi – hilt first.

"_Thank you_," and with that she ran off toward the monk.

Hers was already down an arm, but Spike was attempting the gruesome task of decapitation by boot-knife. Kirara, having no opposable thumbs, was of minimal help – only able to jump in when Spike lost his hold and gave her an opening.

Then she heard Miroku shout a warning.

_"Get behind me!"_

Huh? The cat fled the battle scene with haste to stand at Miroku's back –she and Spike followed. The monk was holding his right hand out in front of himself. As soon as the field was clear of allies he unwrapped the prayer beads from his hand with a shout of "Kazana!"

And a black hole opened up in his palm. Buffy'd seen some weird shit, but this was right on the top of her list. She didn't think the name – "Wind Void" – even began to describe what she was seeing. Every-god-dammned-thing was flying into the hole in his hand: demons, tombstones, trees, chunks of sod. It was over as quickly as it had begun. Nothing left of their opponents but a crater in the dirt.

"I, for one, am glad we stood clear."

She nodded her agreement.

_"Are you alright, Sango?"_

_"I'm fine! There was no need for that. We were-"_

_"You're bleeding."_

He was reaching for her arm, where she'd been caught under her coral-pink shoulder guard. Her wound was showing through the black material of her shirt. She managed to simultaneously slap his hand away and catch his arm to support him as he leaned on the staff.

_"I'm fine! What were you thinking? You shouldn't use the _Kazana_ so casually."_

_"I cannot allow you to come to harm, Sango. Not while I draw breath with which to defend you."_

_"I can't lose you! Not you too."_

This was getting a little bit intense – and awkward. She felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment. Apparently the cat and the kid felt the same way, 'cause they'd backed off to allow the couple room for their tearful embrace.

Spike cleared his throat loudly.

"Much as I hate to interrupt. You two smell simply delicious, and unless you'd like to be entertaining a dinner party in the near future – we'd best be getting behind closed doors."

Yep. That was the Spike she knew and loved - always inappropriately witty.


	8. Chapter 8

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 8

The whole thing was so utterly fairytale romantic! It was like, Sleeping Beauty in reverse or Beauty and the Beast – but the Disney versions, obviously. I was nice to know that some people did get their happy endings. But it made her heart ache at the same time. Because, she'd learned how quickly that could be snatched away. Kagome and Inuyasha clearly lived in as much danger as the Scoobies – even if they weren't on a Hellmouth.

"_- so Kaede-ba-chan is shouting at me to activate the Beads of Subjugation with a word. I hadn't even seen a demon, let alone magic, until that very day. So, I'm panicking, like, what am I supposed to say? And I see his ears twitch and just shout…um…the "O" word… as loud as I can. And he crashed straight through-"_

"Yo! The Xand-Man is back. I come bearing chips!"

"Ohhh! Chips! You are the man!"

"Why, thank you Dawnster! I-"

"_Chips?"_

Inuyasha popped up at her elbow so abruptly that Willow dropped her teacup. Luckily it bounced without breaking. It was a thick mug. Kagome looked on with an expression of resignation and put a hand to her forehead. Willow thought she heard Kagome whimper, _"He's awake."_

"_Where're the chips potato?"_

Inuyasha, seemingly oblivious to the spill, was sniffing around in Xander's shopping bag. Willow was reaching for a dishtowel when Kagome interrupted.

"_Inuyasha! Would it kill you to pay attention for once? You made Willow spill her tea!"_

Inuyasha, emerged from his foraging, took in the situation, and blushed the cutest shade of red that Willow had ever seen. He muttered an apology and pinned his ears back. In the meantime, Xander had produced a bowl from the cabinet and had placed the chips on the table. Inuyasha attacked it with determination.

"Wow! I see, I chose wisely. Chips it is then."

Inuyasha nodded his agreement and growled faintly when Xander reached for the bowl. Kagome swooped in with a separate bowl, scooped up some chips and handed them to Inuyasha with a warning, _"Don't make me say it."_

"_It's…um…best if he has his own bowl."_

"Well, gee, I always wanted a dog but-"

She loved him, but Xander really could put his foot in his mouth with amazing alacrity.

"_I'm not a dog you motherfucker!"_

Inuyasha practically lunged across the counter at Xander. Willow ducked out of the way and considered intervening, but it looked like their new friend was all bark – so to speak. Kagome intercepted Inuyasha, and Xander put his hands up in supplication.

"Woah. Sorry, no offense meant! You're a half-demon. I get-"

"Shut the fuck up, asshole! How dare you call me a –"

At this point, Kagome slapped her hand over Inuyasha's mouth. If nothing else, this seemed to startle him into silence.

"Inuyasha, calm **down**. Xander-"

"Sorry! I didn't know that-"

At this point, Inuyasha stalked off in a fury, muttering to himself, chips completely forgotten.

"_Fucking asshole. Calling me half-demon." _

And Willow could hear the venom on the Japanese word for half-demon, _hanyou_, as if it were a hated invective.

"Um…what did I?"

"_I'm sorry. But you should know that Inuyasha is a little touchy about his…mixed heritage. And being viewed as an animal, obviously."_

Now, Willow had to admit, the way Kagome said that last part, pointedly and with a glare toward Xander, was rather well deserved. That much should have been obvious to anyone. Xander seemed to finally realize this as well, and looked suitably embarrassed. He gestured after Inuyasha.

"Should I?"

"_I would wait. He's in the mood to demolish something."_

"Yeah, Xander. Put your foot in your mouth much?"

Dawn smacked him upside the head.

"Xand, how about we unpack the rest of the stuff from the car and you wait here?"

"Whatever you say, Will'."

As they made their way out to the porch, Willow heard Kagome sigh heavily.

"Is he always that…touchy?"

She'd almost said 'volatile'. Kagome ran a hand through her hair before answering.

"_You have to understand. I call him 'hanyou' but, he knows that I don't mean it badly. And I think we're all a little on edge right now. He's usually much more thick-skinned about it."_

Dawn answered for both of them as she opened the back of the Jeep.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry for Xander, too. He has this bad habit – you know: foot meets mouth. I hope you don't think too badly of him."

"_I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."_

This, Willow was glad to hear. Even if it probably wasn't _strictly_ true. Xander still had an unfortunate bigotry toward demons. Which, given the species of his late fiancée and all of his previous girlfriends, was rather hypocritical. As his oldest and dearest friend, she couldn't hold it too much against him. But she couldn't wait for him to grow out of it – just the same.

"You! Wills! Dawn! We're going camping!"

Buffy, Spike and the rest had come up the walkway behind them unnoticed.

"Really? Can I bring Xach?"

Willow anticipated the response before Dawn had even finished.

"No!," with a growl from Spike, and "Sure thing," from Buffy.

There ensued a brief argument, during which, it was decided that Xach would be allowed – on the theory that Spike was wrong and he was not a 'deviant, untrustworthy, teenage hormone bomb.'

"So, um, why are we going camping?"

"Oh, sorry Wills, Miroku was telling us about the Meidio Zangetsuha. That's how they think they got here, but it's not supposed to spit you back out – it's supposed to send you to hell, or something. So, we thought maybe you could take a look at it with an unveiling spell – little magicky diagnostic. And, bonus, we can take out that massive sandworm thingy at the same time. Because, you know, eating hikers and tourists is _so_ not okay, but I'm still waiting on Gile's shippment of mystical OFF Spray. Plus, I think the Hellmouth is making them a little bit green around the gills – what's with that anyway? – so I thought it would be of the good to give them a little distance while we figure this thing out."

"Um…okay. That's good."

Willow was kind of glad to see Buffy rambling. It beat moody, depressed Buffy hands down. Spike and Dawn were still arguing in the background, while Dawn was on the phone with Xach. It was good to see them on speaking terms again. Spike's return from the dead – or more dead, or would that be return to the undead? – had been good for Dawn. After his death, she'd beaten herself up about her harsh treatment of him in the previous year – as deserved as it may have been.

"You bloody well **will **listen to me!"

"I'm sorry Xach. That's just Spike. What were you saying?"

Ah, good times. Most of their group had made their way inside, but Inuyasha suddenly landed next to them – he must have been on the roof or something – and Willow could tell that Buffy only just stopped herself from decking him in surprise. She knew the feeling.

"_When are we leaving?"_


	9. Chapter 9

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 9

It was a good thing she'd invested in necro-tempered glass. However, this meant that Spike and Xander had to sit in the same vehicle – overall, not so good. Tension you could cut with a knife. Geesh! Buffy could only count her blessings that Xach had been otherwise engaged, or the testosterone levels in this vehicle would have already reached critical levels. Although she couldn't actually see Spike reflected in the rearview, she was pretty sure that sparks should have been flying with the way Xander was glaring.

"Watch the road! Watch the road!"

Dawn could still reach unholy decibel levels when she tried. Buffy glanced back out the windshield and, just then, Inuyasha landed on her hood –

"Watch where you're going you stupid bitch!"

-and then launched himself off at an angle. She supposed she deserved that, but that boy was going to have to learn to watch his mouth if he didn't want to get decked.

By the time they reached their destination Buffy was ready to kill something. She hopped out of the SUV swinging The Scythe in irritation. This drew Inuyasha's attention immediately.

"Where did you get that?"

Rude much? She was so not in the mood for more macho bullshit.

"It's mine. I don't see how that's really any of your business, kid."

"It's a demon blade. Humans shouldn't't mess with such things."

Well that was interesting. And also presumptuous. If there was one thing that felt truly right and good about her demon power, it was The Scythe. The blade was made for her, it _chose_ her.

"You know what they say…don't judge a book by its cover. I'm The Chosen One. The Slayer. This is _my_ blade."

She swung The Scythe in emphasis and it sang contentedly through the air. Dog-boy just gave her a speculative look and stalked off with one hand on the hilt of his sword. She was being a little presumptuous herself. But, the other girls didn't begrudge her the singular title. She wasn't The First Original Slayer, but she was the last Chosen _One_, before Willow's spell had awoken all of them.

Willow was setting up to put herself into a trance, but Spike was stuck in the SUV until sunset. She might as well keep him company. She opened the door on the shady side and slid into the backseat next to him.

"Sorry about Xander. He still doesn't understand."

"I'm not sure I understand either, Buffy."

Dammit! Zero point three seconds and already this conversation was too heavy for her. She didn't **have** the answer. Didn't he get that? Why did he have to be so goddamned moody!

"Well, that makes three of us."

Spike just sighed and ran a hand over his head – flattening the gelled in spikes into comical bleach-white curls. But she couldn't find it funny. That was a gesture she'd never associated with him before.

"Why are you doing this? Cornering me like this?"

"In the car? I'm sorry. I thought you'd like the company! What's your problem anyway?"

The problem was, she knew exactly what his problem was – it was her. And the way she couldn't help acting around him – familiar, intimate. And he wouldn't believe her. If she made a move on him now he'd bolt faster than Speedy Gonzales – and every other man in her life. When he'd rejoined them, they'd fallen back into the routine of hunting and camaraderie – as natural as breathing. But, every time she thought that they'd made progress – the idiot had to go and over-think things! He called after her as she slammed the door, but she didn't turn. If she answered him, she was likely to say something she'd regret. She was so mad she could just spit! Weepy, melodramatic jerk! She should totally rent _Interview with a Vampire_ on the next movie night, just to piss him off!

"Buffy! We're ready over here! You're gonna' wanna' get a load of this!"

Thank God…and Xander…for good timing.

Willow was all done with the hocus pocus and they were just waiting on the sandworm thingy. It usually didn't take long to come after cars. And, there it was – arching through the earth like a landbound whale or something out of that movie with Sting. This would make more sense if they still lived in the desert, but who was she to question? Willow told her it had something to do with pocket dimensions. Which was why the thing was so difficult to kill.

When Inuyasha drew his sword, even she could see the magic sparking off the blade. It transformed completely. Now that was a big fucking sword! It was just asking for male inadequacy jokes – but she'd save those for actual enemies. No matter how much her allies were asking for it at the moment.

"You trying to make up for something?"

Holy God she was glad Inuyasha didn't seem to get it. Honestly, did Xander have no sense of self-preservation?

"Oh, wow!" there was not a little awe in Willow's voice.

Buffy wondered what it was she was seeing in the unveiling trance. All Buffy could see was that the blade was almost as large as it's wielder and the hilt had grown a kind of girly-looking ruff of white fur to match his hair. How could he even lift that thing? As the sandworm neared, the blade turned midnight black.

Then Inuyasha cut the air with a shout of "Meidio Zangetsuha!"

Buffy knew a portal to a dark dimension when she saw one. Most weren't quite so pretty. It was perfectly spherical, and she could see galaxies in it's blackness as it swallowed the sandworm. Then it was gone. Right along with a huge chunk of the terrain.

Inuyasha was propping the sword on his shoulder with a cocky grin on his face.

"_Heh! Piece of cake! Anything else you need cleaned up while we're here, _**_Slayer_**?"

Could he possibly sound more arrogant? Probably no.

Over the campfire, no one could talk about anything but Tessaiga. Personally, Buffy thought the kid's ego was big enough as it was.

"So the sword-"

"Tessaiga," he corrected, yet again, as if the blade's feelings would be hurt.

"- sorry, Tessaiga absorbs the abilities of the demons you kill with it?"

Willow was really giving the kid the full force of her research mode – but he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Yeah. There's no limit to how strong we can get."

Nice, how he was refering to himself and the sword as 'we'. But, admittedly, she knew the feeling. She lay a hand on The Scythe. Maybe she should give it a proper name?

"And, I saw that it's…bound to you."

"Tessaiga and I are one."

"Can I touch it?" that came from Xander and was answered only with a growl.

"So, we've decided that there's no way we came here through Meidio Zangetsuha, right?"

"So it seems, Kagome-sama," answered the monk, "It would appear that our eyes were deceived. Which points to-"

"Byakuya," growled Inuyasha.

"Of The Mirage," finished Sango.

"Who of the what now?"

Really, Xander could be so eloquent. It was Miroku who answered.

"Byakuya of The Mirage is a…detachment – for lack of a better word – of our fated enemy, Naraku. If he was involved in sending us here, it means that Naraku wants us here. I fear he may simply want us out of the way while he goes after the final shard."

"Feh! Yeah, he can try! Don't worry Sango. You know he doesn't stand a chance of that!"

"I can probably pinpoint your dimension," Willow yawned, "but right now, I need some shuteye."

"Right, I've got first watch," announced Inuyasha,"You sleep, Miroku."

Buffy fell asleep, watching the reflected golden eyes of the dog-demon and the vampire in the dying firelight – to the sound of Dawn exchanging an endless round of "no, you hand up first" with her boyfriend.

* * *

Buffy was very suddenly awake, because something was **wrong**. She was pretty sure the smothering fog had something to do with it. And the way Inuyasha was growling menacingly – sounded like he hadn't moved much from his place across the campfire, but she couldn't see anything. Something vaguely tentacle-like was wrapping around her feet, but she wrenched free and heard Willow muttering a counter-spell.

"_Byakuya! You son of a bitch!"_

"_Not a morning person, are you Inuyasha?"_

The voice of the questioner was echoing and untraceable - ephemeral as the fog. And, the words were completely alien to her. This person had not been included in Willow's translation spell.

"_Foxfire!"_

A green glow blossomed in the fog to her left, but failed to illuminate anything. She could't even see Shippo, although he was clearly the source of the light. Then Dawn screamed and it echoed through the fog - giving no direction.

"_Shippo, where-",_ asked Miroku.

"_Hurry!"_ shouted the fox-kit and the green light darted off.

"_Goddammit! Get the fuck back here, Byakuya!"_

As she made a blind dash, Spike grabbed her hand and darted off in front of her - Guiding the way across the uneven ground. She felt him jump ahead of her and, taking a leap of faith, launched herself after him. The fog cut off suddenly to be replaced by a yawning blackness and a feeling of vertigo so intense that she lost consciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

**Many thanks and apologies to all my reviewers and readers! I do intend to finish this. Writers block is vanquished. I have a new PC (finally). As always, reviews are food for my muse.**

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 10

* * *

"Sesshoumaru-sama! _Hey,_Sesshoumaru-sama! _Is she okay_?... Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"_Be still,_Rin."

"_Yes! _Sesshoumaru-sama!"

_"Keh! Stupid human woman!"_

"_Silence,_ Jaken_."_

The first thing to come back to Dawn was her sense of hearing. She couldn't make sense out of the words and it took her a moment to realize that it wasn't because she was concussed. There were three voices. A young girl. And two men. One with an even, commanding tone and the other conveying an unpleasant petulance. She was kicked sharply in the shoulder and moaned as other hurts make themselves known.

"_So mean! Jaken-sama!"_

"Ack._ Apologies,_Sesshoumaru-sama. _Please forgive this humble _Jaken."

Friction burn on her wrists. Yes. From that freaky Legolas-wannabe on the flying origami crane. Tied her up. With, ugh, snakes. Her shoulder felt bruised and her temple throbbed. She'd landed awkwardly when she rolled to the ground. Hit some rocks. Knocked herself out. That was why. Her leg felt, wrenched and sore and then she remembered that she'd been lifted by her pant leg by...well basically it was Clifford the Big _White _Dog...and deposited on the ground. Her last thought before she smashed her head was that it figured she'd end up being eaten by an over-sized Saluki.

Dawn felt that she was being watched. Someone was standing very close to her. Blocking the sunlight from shining red through her eyelids. Opening her eyes, sluggishly, she was looking up at him. Back-lit by the sunlight she could still tell that his hair was preternaturally white - the same shade as Inuyasha's - and fell to his waist. Not any kind of demon she knew but certainly not human. She squinted into the light and he moved to her side with only the slightest sound of shifting silk, kneeling to look down at her with an inscrutable expression. He looked, well, stunningly handsome, really, if you went for beautiful men...almost effeminate but too menacing to really pull it off. If the aura weren't enough to give him away as a demon, the inhuman, amber eyes clinched it. He just kept staring down at her and his expression slid subtly toward puzzlement.

"_This is_ -" She couldn't understand the words, but got the impression he was talking more to himself than to her.

He cast a glance over his shoulder and spoke. "Rin_, what do you see here_?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"_What is it_?" He repeated.

"_Um...a woman_, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Hnn....Inuyasha_'s scent_ ..._interesting_. Rin, _come here_."

There was some shuffling going on around her and then a small hand touched her cheek. A little girl was crouched down and looking at her with some concern. Her hair was tied up lopsidedly with a single flyaway pigtail and she wore a bright orange patterned furisode.

"Nee-san _are you okay_?"

"Huh?"

"_Are you hurt_?"

"What?"

"_I'm sorry,_nee-san. _I don't understand_."

"..great."

"_What?_"

Dawn took the pause in their attempt at conversation to scoot herself into a sitting position. She still felt a little nauseous and weak.

"Rin."

Dawn looked up to find the little girl pointing toward her own face.

"Lynn?"

A little head-shake and then, "_No_...Ri - n"

"Rin."

"_Yes! That's right. I'm _Rin. _And this is _Jaken-sama!"

Rin gestured to a scowling little Kappa-demon, whom Dawn pegged for the one who'd kicked her.

"Jah-kin?"

"_Yes! _Jaken-sama," then she gestured to the demon who'd been scrutinizing her. "_This is _Sesshoumaru-sama." He was now gazing into the middle distance, seemingly unconcerned. On second look, though, Dawn found him even more imposing. She'd missed, before, in her grogginess, the truely predatory bearing with which he carried himself. Also, his flowing garments and white hair seemed to be billowing slightly against the wind. That looked like the effects of magical overflow. Shape-changers and other frighteningly powerful magic users tended to be the only things that produced that particular effect. Dawn nearly recoiled, but took comfort in the fact that Rin was practically beaming as she introduced him.

She looked earnestly to Dawn and saw her hesitation. "Nee-san _are you scared? It's okay._Sesshoumaru-sama_ is very kind._Sesshoumaru-sama_ protects me and he saved you. Right,_Jaken-sama_?"_

The kappa sputtered incoherently for a moment, seemingly on the verge of an apoplectic fit at whatever Rin had just said. He was promptly beaned by a good-sized rock. Said rock could only have been thrown by Sesshoumaru, yet when Dawn looked back at him he appeared not to have moved and maintained his distant and dignified bearing. Dawn burst out laughing. There was nothing else for it.

* * *

"...Kagome."

Oh! She'd landed in a tangle of limbs with Inuyasha and they were so close that they were breathing the same air. As they tried to disentangle themselves they came face-to-face and she froze as he looked at her with awe and a raw yearning that he usually hid so well. He had an astonishingly ridgid sense of propriety. Really frustrating - and - was he going to kiss her?!

Just at that exact moment, when she drew in a shuddering breath of expectation and he leaned up toward her, a muffled squeaking shattered the mood like a fine-stemmed champagne flute.

_"I can't breath! Get off! Get off me!"_

He was so adorable when he blushed...it even touched his ears! Inuyasha's eyes widened comically as he rolled them into a sitting position, gently gripping her arms and twisting to check on Shippou.

_"Oi, are you okay Shippou?"_

In answer, Shippou leapt up and smacked Inuyasha on the head, shouting _"Idiot!"_before darting off in a huff to straighten himself out. Shippou was surprisingly particular about his grooming and appearance, given his age. But that was not taking into account the fact that he was a fox. For once, Inuyasha was abashed enough that he didn't react to the insult.

They were finally getting awkwardly to their feet when Buffy and the vampire, Spike, landed almost on top of them and in a similarly awkward position. After a long, wordless pause, the two of them flew apart like a pair of scalded cats. Definitely something going on there. Something she'd be glad to avoid.

It took just one second longer than that for the vampire to realize he was standing in full sunlight and start flapping around in hysterics.

"Fire! Fire! ...wait. Why am I not on fire?"

Buffy looked up at the sun and then back to her companion.

"Um... Wow."

He was still squinting in stupification into the alien sun when Xander collided with him as if launched from a cannon and took them both to the ground.

"Bloody ow Harris! Gerroff me!"

"Wait. Why aren't you on fire?"

"That does seem to be the question, dunnit?"

"Probably just something to do with interdementional metaphysics."

This last came from their witch-friend Willow who'd sauntered up the group as if she'd walked from Cleveland.

A feline roar announced the arrival of Sango and Miroku astride a smugly airborne Kirara. They were largely ignored in favor of the non-spectacle of a sun-drenched vampire.

"English please, Wills."

"Yes, do share with the rest of the class, Red."

"We're probably in another dimension. This sun isn't The Sun. So, no vampire flambe."

"Well, being not-on-fire works for me. But that begs the question - "

"Where are we?" Buffy finished for him.

Kagome had known from the moment they'd landed, but it hadn't occurred to her to explain until now.

_"Looks like home."_

_"Smells like home," _added Inuyasha. And that seemed to brook no argument.

_"Where else but straight to Naraku would Byakuya have been going?"_ Sango added bitterly.

At that, Bufffy shot Sango a sharp look.

"I think it's time for you all to dish on this Byakuya of the Mirage who took my little sister. Now-ish."

* * *

**TBC Soon ;) Um... is anyone else in glee over the release of **_**Inuyasha: Kanketsu hen?** _


End file.
